Nokia at 3GSM: New N- and Eseries

The Eseries business phones took centre stage this time during the 3GSM world congress held in Barcelona as Nokia unleashed the second wave of its business-oriented models by showing the E90, E61i and E65.

I expected to see the Eseries equivalent model to the N80 in the form of the E80, but sadly none of that turned out to be true. The E65 is supposed to cover this slider business phone area. The Nseries didn’t get as much attention as always, although the family did grow with the addition of one model: the Nokia N77. Lastly, something I didn’t expect was the announcement of the Nokia 6110 Navigator.
Several months ago pictures and even videos appeared on the net revealing all of the just announced Eseries. In a previous article we did show pictures of what seemed to be an early prototype of the E61i, that article can be found here. As expected the E90 communicator took all the attention with its impressive feature list including a 3.3 mega pixel camera, built-in GPS while being based on the S60 platform instead of the previous S80 platform used. This phone may well turn out to be a competitor to Nokia’s own N95. I also think it’s a wise decision on Nokia’s side to bring out the Eseries with cameras, although there is still the market for smart phones without cameras as in some corporate environments this is strictly prohibited. I expect the just announced E61i to also become a huge success, just like its predecessor as users of the popular E61 liked the qwerty keyboard but pointed the lack of a camera as the only real problem.
The N77 is Nokia attempt at bringing the mobile TV DVB-H standard to the mainstream market. Its first attempt in the form of N92 just recently became available but mainly due to high prices and lack of the service it hasn’t really caught on. The N77 is expected to bring a change to this.

GPS navigation is becoming more and more a part of Nokia’s mobile phones as shown with the announcement of the E90 and N95. I expect to see more GPS-equipped models in the high-end E and NSeries, but the 6110 Navigator was not expected at all clearly indicates that many mass market solutions will follow soon.

Nokia E90 Communicator
The Nokia E90 Communicator is set for an uncompromised ‘mobile office’ experience. Fast and inexpensive connections over WLAN and HSDPA-enhanced 3G accelerate the mobile use of data- and transmission-rich applications. The interface to business and leisure applications and the Internet, the Nokia S60 browser, with 16 million colors, is capable of displaying the full width of a web page at once.

The Nokia E90 Communicator is now based on the S60 platform, making a wealth of additional mobile applications available for its users. The Nokia E90 Communicator also has an integrated GPS and Nokia Maps application to provide help in finding routes and locating services. For increased personal convenience, the Nokia E90 Communicator is equipped with an FM radio, a music player, a video player and two cameras — a 3.2Mpix auto focus camera with flash and a second camera for videoconferencing.

Nokia E65
Nokia E65, the slim slider, contains the mobile business capabilities of a Nokia Eseries device in an exquisite package with top notch materials. Nokia E65 has been designed for easy access to the most frequently used applications from the One Touch keys on the front cover. Users can make conference calls, access their contacts database, mute and unmute calls, and access an application of choice through ‘My Own’ key with just one push of a button. Active Standby, the capability to customize the phone display to show and provide quick access to user-defined applications, together with One Touch keys, simplifies connecting to business and personal applications and switching between tasks. Furthermore, Nokia E65 can be integrated with corporate telephony systems – with Nokia Intellisync Call Connect for Cisco, Nokia Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel and Avaya one-X Mobile Edition for Nokia solutions. The Nokia E65 device also supports the most used corporate and consumer email solutions.

Nokia E61i
Nokia E61i, designed specifically for extensive mobile email usage, provides advanced attachment handling with on-the-device document editing. The new full keyboard design with Navi and One Touch keys offers an unbeatable mobile user experience in the palm of a hand. Nokia E61i supports corporate mobile email solutions such as Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email, Good Mobile Messaging, Mail for Exchange, Seven Mobile Mail, and BlackBerry Connect and most popular consumer email solutions. In response to customer demand, the device also features a high quality 2Mpix camera, a music player and a video player.

Nokia E65 is already available in selected markets, with broader availability building during the first quarter of 2007 for an unsubsidised approximate retail price of 400 Euros. Nokia E61i will become available during the second quarter of 2007 for an unsubsidised retail price of 400 Euros. First deliveries of the Nokia E90 Communicator are anticipated to take place during the second quarter of 2007, with volume global availability during the third quarter of 2007. The unsubsidised retail price of the Nokia E90 Communicator will be around 750-800 Euros.

Nokia N77
The Nokia N77 multimedia computer offers an optimized mobile TV experience in a a compact form factor with complete Nokia Nseries functionalities. With the Nokia N77, the latest integrated DVB-H device in the Nokia Nseries range, operators now have greater choice of devices as they further develop their broadcast mobile TV platform to launch and attract more subscribers. The Nokia N77 enables living room TV as viewers have come to know and understand, but is now available in a small package to take on the go. ‘TV is the biggest media in the world and we are mobilizing it with the Nokia N77. The pocketable and affordable Nokia N77 further drives broadcast mobile TV based on DVB-H technology towards the mainstream market phase. The ability to watch live television on a mobile device has never been so easy,’ said Jonas Geust, head of Nokia Nseries Players Category, Multimedia, Nokia. ‘The wide 2.4′ flat screen with up to 16 million colors and high quality stereo sound makes it the ideal personal mobile device for enjoying live TV and music on the move.’

‘With the Nokia N77, we are expecting an increase in the take-up of broadcast mobile TV service in Vietnam,’ said Mr Le Doan Quan, Director of VTCmobile Televison Company. ‘Nokia now gives subscribers more choice in the type of device they would like to own when applying for the broadcast mobile TV services in Vietnam.’ In 2006, Vietnam became the first country in Asia Pacific to roll-out broadcast mobile TV services based on DVB-H. The service is operated by the VTCmobile Television Company, one of the leading multimedia corporations in Vietnam.

See what happens next
The dedicated TV key on the Nokia N77 gives you straight access to a world of DVB-H TV. It even remembers the last channel you were viewing when you switched off the TV. You can also set reminders to alert you when your program is starting and access it at the push of a button. Through the Program Guide in the mobile TV application you can view program information up to seven days, browse TV channels, purchase new channels if desired and select the TV program you are interested in.

By utilizing built-in interactive service functionality, like SMS voting for deciding what music video will be played next, it is very easy to make your voice heard. You can also take full advantage of 30 seconds replay and continue live TV watching after the replay clip.

Your music, your soundtrack, your way
With up to 2GB of memory and integrated stereo speakers, the Nokia N77 also features great mobile music experiences. The Nokia N77 offers storage of up to 1500tracks. Enjoy your favorite DJs or discover a rich new world of music with Visual Radio. With support for MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ and WMA, no song should go unheard. For enhanced personal sound quality, simply connect the in-box earphone buds or use the Nokia Audio Adapter with standard 3.5 mm connector to hook up to a compatible headphone.

Much more than just entertainment
With practically all the applications you would expect from a true Nokia Nseries multimedia computer, including a 2 megapixel camera (1600 x 1200 pixels), the Nokia N77 is much more than just live TV – it’s the key to an entire world of multimedia computing. Work or play, beneath its good looking exterior it has just about everything you need. Designed to work on 3G (WCDMA 2100 MHz), EDGE and GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) networks, with the Nokia N77 you can manage your day on the go with email, calendar and to-do lists.

The Nokia N77, based on S60 3rd Edition software on Symbian OS, is expected to start shipping during the second quarter of 2007 in countries where DVB-H services are available, with an estimated, pre-tax, unsubsidized sales price of approximately 370 euros.

Nokia 6110 Navigator
The new Nokia 6110 Navigator is a navigation-enabled mobile phone designed for the mass market. The Nokia 6110 Navigator brings together GPS (Global Positioning System) and AGPS (Assisted Global Positioning System) functionality with always-on mobile connectivity in a feature-rich, compact device. The Nokia 6110 Navigator is expected to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2007 with an estimated retail price of 450 Euros before subsidies or taxes.

Key features of the Nokia 6110 Navigator include:
– Fully integrated GPS Navigation with one touch Navigator key
– Local map pre-installed on the memory card for immediate navigation
-HSDPA for fast web browsing and downloading
-WCDMA 2100 HSDPA, GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
-2 megapixel camera with integrated flash, 4x digital zoom and panorama mode
-Real-time video sharing and video calling
-~40 MB free internal memory
-Support of microSD memory card up to 2 GB

Written by Devin